Jul 22, 2013 10:39 PM

I received a nasty nip from a spider today. I bent down to pick up some clothes from the floor and immediately felt a fairly strong sting in my hand when I touched them. I thought I had been stung by a wasp which was trapped in the clothes, but when I looked further a medium sized black spider ran out and escaped into the fireplace. I had a puncture wound in my hand which actually bled a little, and it was painful for an hour or so afterwards. I didn't get a very close look at it but it had a fairly chunky body and not particularly long legs, it was dark without obvious markings and its body was maybe a centimetre long. Not very helpful! I have never been afraid of spiders before but this thing is now loose in my bedroom. Does the presence of one mean there are many? How long do they live? Should I be worried about getting another bite?

It is a mark of how infrequent spider bites are, that we live with them in our homes decade in, decade out and most people never experience a bite...in fact most people are unaware that you can receive a bite from a UK spider.

There aren't any spiders native to the UK that are dangerous to healthy humans, at worst a bite might leave you sore for a couple of days.

I have started keeping a diary of spiders I see inside my home, since February I have seen 32 spiders (at least 11 different species), a couple of which have taken up residence in my living room (plus whatever spiders that have, but I just never see). All but 5 of those 32 bite. I have only been bitten a couple of times in 45yrs. So I wouldn't worry, most spiders will flee when confronted, a few will stand their ground, but none of them actively stalk us, or are aiming to bite us. Most bites are like yours, very rare accidents due to being trapped in clothing & the like.

For the ones you might like to move outside, use a paper cone to scoop them up, or a soft pop bottle, lid on & the bottom of the bottle cut off. Many of the less desirable spiders are prey for daddy long legs spiders (pholcus phalangioides), so don't discourage these.